Six senators stall compromise on renewal of the Patriot...

November 18, 2005

Six senators stall compromise on renewal of the Patriot Act WASHINGTON (AP) -- Legislation reauthorizing the Patriot Act stalled Thursday as lawmakers worked to satisfy senators upset by the elimination of some civil liberties protections. Negotiators had worked for days to develop an acceptable compromise and presented a draft to senators and representatives late Wednesday. But senators on the negotiating committee have yet to agree to the compromise, aware that six Republicans and Democrats are threatening to block the final version of the bill when it comes to the full Senate. The senators are Republicans Larry Craig of Idaho, John Sununu of New Hampshire and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Democrats Dick Durbin of Illinois, Russ Feingold of Wisconsin and Ken Salazar of Colorado. Sheehan, 26 others convicted of protesting without a permit WASHINGTON (AP) -- Iraq War protester Cindy Sheehan and 26 other peace activists were found guilty Thursday of protesting without a permit near the White House. They were each ordered to pay $75 in fines and court costs, but Sheehan's lawyer said he plans to appeal the verdict. "We weren't demonstrating," Sheehan told reporters after the trial. All the defendants contended they were trying to deliver petitions to the White House calling for an end to the war in Iraq on Sept. 26, but found no one willing to accept them. Study: Black HIV cases fall, but racial disparities remain ATLANTA (AP) -- The rate of newly reported HIV cases among blacks has been dropping by about 5 percent a year since 2001, the government said Thursday. But blacks are still eight times more likely than whites to be diagnosed with the AIDS virus. "The racial disparities remain severe," said Lisa Lee, an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The falling rate among blacks seems to be tied to overlapping drops in diagnoses among injection drug users and heterosexuals, CDC researchers said. The study was based on 2001-04 data from 33 states that have name-based reporting systems for HIV. Health officials do not know which diagnoses represent new infections and which ones were infections people had for years but had just discovered. The CDC found that overall diagnoses in the 33 states decreased slightly, from 41,207 cases in 2001 to 38,685 in 2004. 7 winners of Mega Millions still go to work, buy lunch for staff ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- A secretary and six laboratory workers at Kaiser Permanente held the winning ticket for the $315 million Mega Millions jackpot -- but they still came into work, a company spokeswoman said. The winners, who had chipped in $3 apiece and bought 21 tickets, came into work Wednesday at the medical center in Garden Grove anyway, said Kaiser spokeswoman Barbara Shipnuck. "They bought the entire staff lunch to celebrate," said Shipnuck. "For now, they all prefer to stay anonymous." Pope attends screening of TV miniseries on late John Paul II VATICAN CITY (AP) -- Pope Benedict XVI attended a Vatican screening Thursday of a television miniseries on the life of Pope John Paul II -- giving equal billing to the latest biopic on his predecessor after watching a rival production six months ago. Benedict said "Pope John Paul II," which CBS will broadcast Dec. 4 and Dec. 7, provided an important service in spreading the message about the life and works of the late pope. "I believe this film constitutes the latest example of the love that the people had for Pope Wojtyla and their desire to remember him, to see him again and to feel him close," he said, referring to his predecessor by his Polish surname, in remarks to the audience at the end of the film.